Tim Sherwood has said he hopes to have an immediate impact on managerless Tottenham and avenge Spurs' disappointing 3-0 home defeat to West Ham from October when the two side meet again tomorrow night.

The interim Spurs boss, who has taken training for the first time, has called on his players to banish the memory of recent performances as he aims to show that he is a serious contender to permanently replace Andre Villas-Boas.

"When you lose your manager it's a change and you've got to listen to a different voice, but I'm hoping to get a few messages across in a short space of time so we can get a positive result against West Ham," the 44-year-old told Spurs TV.

"It's a huge game, especially on the back of what they did to us at the Lane. It was disappointing.

"We have to get out there on the front foot and we have to impose ourselves on them as soon as we can during the game."

"Hopefully they've got their concentration on Premier League safety rather than the cup tomorrow night," he added ahead of the London derby.

(Photo: Action Images)

"We have to be patient. They got bodies behind the ball and tried to catch us on the counter-attack.

"We're aware of that. Let's just hope we can impose ourselves on them nice and early, get the crowd behind us and really be up and at them."

Sherwood may be able to welcome back Danny Rose, Christian Eriksen, Vlad Chiriches and Younes Kaboul from injury, but Jan Vertonghen is still missing with an ankle complaint, Sandro has a calf injury, while skipper Michael Dawson and midfielder Paulinho are both suspended.

The former Spurs midfielder still believes Tottenham have enough quality to prevail.

"In defensive areas we're quite light, but it's up to those boys to step up to the mark and perform well for the club and for themselves," he added. "We'll just crack on with what else we've got. It ain't a bad team."